Smoke signal device

ABSTRACT

A smoke signal device adaptable for attaching to a pistol and being launched by firing the pistol. An adapter is provided which slip-fits onto a pistol barrel and a base having a percussion primer therein is removably attached to the adapter. A case having a quantity of smoke-producing composition therein is attached to the forward end of the base and an ignition train is provided to ignite the smoke-producing composition upon detonation of the percussion primer. The case is separated from the base upon ignition and a trailing smoke signal is emitted from the case during flight.

United States Patent n91 Dare et a1.

1 1 Jan. 30, 1973 154] SMOKE SIGNAL DEVICE [75] Inventors: Sherman E.Dare, Wheatland;

Davey S. Haas, Bloomington; Stanley J. Herold, Switz City; Steven R.Norris, Wheatland; Terry V. Patterson, Bloomington; Robert E. Sloan,Linton, all of 1nd.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the NavyFiled: March 1, 1971 App1.No.: 119,765

[73] Assignee:

US. Cl. ..102/90, 42/1 F, 102/652 Int. Cl ..F42b 11/24 Field of Search..102/65.2, 90, 87, 66; 42/1 F References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS8/1971 Grail et a1 ..102/90 X 11/1971 King ..42/1 F 9/1962 Butler et a1...149/84 X 1,900,790 3/1933 Brandt ..102/652 X 3,007,271 11/1961 Brand..102/65.2 X

2,415,803 2/1947 Abcll ..102/652 3,338,763 8/1967 Krist ct a1. ..149/84X 2,995,526 8/1961 DeMent ..149/85 X Primary Examiner-Benjamin A.Borchelt Assistant Examiner-H. 1. Tudor AttorneyR. S. Sciascia et a1.

57 ABSTRACT 4 A smoke signal device adaptable for attaching to a pistoland being launched by firing the pistol. An

adapter is provided which slip-fits onto a pistol barrel I 4 Claims, 2Drawing Figures PAIENTEDmao I973 lllll Fig.2

INVENTOHS. SHERMAN E. DARE, DAVEY .s. HMS,

STflNLE Y J: HEROLD .S'TEVEN NORRIS, ROBERT E. .54 on/v TERRY MPATTERSON ATTORNEYS.

SMOKE SIGNAL DEVICE STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The inventiondescribed herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Governmentof the United States of America for governmental purposes without thepayment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to asignalling device and more particularly to a signaling device which canbe launched by firing a pistol.

Various devices have been employed in the past to launch a pyrotechnicflare by a hand-held device. One relatively small device for launchingflares is shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,044,360, which issued July 17, 1962,to Russell 0. Stefan and Anton G. Lang. A guide tube having a boretherein is provided with a cylindrical firing pin that is spring biasedby an expansive coil spring. The lower end of the tube is closed by athreaded plug and the opposite, or upper end, is threaded. A flarecartridge is provided with an externally threaded nipple which isthreadedly engageable in the upper end of the tube.

In U. S. Pat. No. 3,102,477, which issued Sept. 3, 1963, to Russell 0.Stefan and Anton G. Lang, there is shown a device similar to that shownin U. S. Pat. No. 3,044,360, except there is shown an improved flarecartridge. In this patented device, the fuse charge is ignited in amanner to delay its burning and thus assure that a substantial portionof the mass of the fuse will remain unconsumed during a considerableportion of the upward flight of the projectile, thereby contributing tothe momentum aiding in the ascent of the projectile and deferring theignition of the signal charge until the projectile has reached analtitude where it will be an effective signal. The device of U. S. Pat.No. 3,102,477, like that of U. S. Pat. No. 3,044,360, threadedlyconnects the projectile to the launcher.

While the devices of the above-mentioned patents perform adequately,they have a disadvantage in that the operator needs both hands toassemble the projectile to the launcher and also to disassemble theprojectile after firing. Also, the time required to threadedly attachand disconnect the projectile to the launcher is relatively long andflares or signals cannot be rapidly launched.

In U. S. Pat. No. 3,315,397, which issued Apr. 25, 1967, to Clarence W.Gilliam et al, a launching device is shown having a circumferentialgroove on one end that engages with a quick disconnect device that isprovided on the outer end of the projector tube. The quick disconnectconsists of a plurality of balls that are separately retained in taperedholes that are of such dimensions that a portion of the balls extendinto the inner diameter of the tube. A spring-biased sleeve is providedon the outer diameter of the tube and the inner bore of this sleeve isprovided with a tapered portion that is engageable with the balls.Lateral movement of the sleeve causes the balls to move inwardly oroutwardly, depending upon the direction of travel of the sleeve. Theballs are engageable with the circumferential groove to lock theprojectile case to the projector tube.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a signalingdevice which can be attached to barrel of a pistol and is launched byfiring the pistol. An adapter is provided for fitting the signalingdevice onto a barrel and a base having a percussion cap therein isconnected to the adapter. A case having a quantity of smoke-producingcomposition is attached to the forward end of the base and an ignitiontrain is provided to ignite the composition upon detonation of thepercussion cap by a projectile fired from the pistol. During flight, thecase is separated from the base and a trail of colored smoke is emittedfrom the aft end of the case.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide asignaling device which can be fired from a pistol and thus eliminate theneed for a special launching device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing asignaling device attached to a hand-held pistol; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1 of thedrawing, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention whereina smoke signaling device 11 is shown attached to a pistol 12. Referringnow to FIG. 2 of the drawing, the smoke signaling device 11 has anadapter 13 that has a bore 14 on one end to slip-fit onto the outside ofa pistol barrel 15. A pair of slits l6 and 17 are provided to permitclearance for the front sight 18 and locking lug 19 on pistol 12. A pairof holes 21 are provided in adapter 13 forward of bore 14 to permitescapage of gas generated by firing pistol 12.

A base 22 is provided with a reduced diameter portion 23 which fits intoa second bore 24 of adapter 13. A groove 25 is provided in reduceddiameter portion 23 and a bead 26 is provided on the forward end ofadapter 13 and snaps into groove 25 to hold base 22 to adapter 13. Acentral bore 27 is provided in base 22 and 'a percussion primer 28 ispositioned in bore 27. Percussion primers are commercially availableand, by way of example, might be obtained from the Federal CartridgeCorp., Anoka, Minn. (Part No. 210) or from Olin Mathieson ChemicalCorp., Winchester-Wester Div., East Alton, 111., (Part No. M).

A case 29 is attached to the forward end of base 22 and a quantity ofsmoke-producing composition 30 is provided within case 29. As shown inFIG. 2 of the drawing, a groove 31 is provided in the forward end ofbase 22 and accommodates the aft end of case 29. Ba]- last 32, such as aquantity of lead, is provided in the forward end of case 29 to providestability during flight. An ignition agent 33 and transfer agent 34 areprovided in the aft end of case 28 near percussion primer 28. Anignition fuze 35 is provided to ignite the smoke-producing compositionupon ignition of transfer agent 34. An orifice 36 is provided in base 22to permit passage of heat and flame produced by the detonation of primer28. By way of example, the smoke-producing composition 30 might becomprised, by weight, of about 15.1

percent of Disperse Red 9 dye, about 15.1 percent of Fluorescent Reddye, about 22.6 percent of potassium chlorate, about 2.0 percent ofpotassium bicarbonate, about 1 1.0 percent of sugar and about 34.2percent of a binder solution comprised, by weight, of about 8 percent ofcellulose nitrate camphor and about 92 percent of acetone. Also by wayof example, ignition agent 33 might be comprised, by weight, of about 80percent of red lead, about 16 percent of powdered silicon and about 4percent of a copolymer binder comprised of about 79 mole percent ofvinylidene fluoride and about 21 mole percent of hexafluoropropylene.Transfer agent 34 might be comprised, by weight, of about 60.7 percentof potassium nitrate, about 8.8 percent of powdered amorphous boron,about 27 percent of atomized aluminum and about 3.5 percent of the samecopolymer binder used in the ignition agent.

OPERATlON In operation, the smoke signaling device 11 is firstpositioned on pistol 12, with slits l6 and 17 being aligned to provideclearance for front sight l8 and locking lug 19 on pistol l2. Pistol 12is then aimed and fired, and the bullet which is fired strikespercussion primer 28. The momentum of the striking bullet will cause theentire assembly of smoke signaling device to be projected from thepistol, however, detonation of percussion primer 28 will cause adapter13 to be separated from base 22 and adapter 13, which is light weight,will travel only a short distance from the pistol.

The detonation of percussion primer 28 causes ignition agent 33 to beignited which, in turn, ignites transfer agent 34 and smoke-producingcomposition 30. The gases generated by the combustion of these burningproducts causes case 29 to be separated from base 22 and a smoke trailis emitted from the aft end of case 29 as it travels through the air. Itshould be noted that the flight of case 29 is due mainly to the impactof the bullet fired from pistol 12, rather than from any propulsion duefrom the burning of the smoke-producing composition 30. Devicesembodying the present invention have been made and tested at the NavalAmmunition Depot, Crane, Ind., and have been observed to travel between450 and 550 feet.

We claim:

1. A smoke signal adaptable for being launched by a projectile firedfrom a pistol comprising:

an adapter for receiving the barrel of a pistol,

a base separably attached to one end of said adapter and having acentral cavity therein, said base being adaptable to be separated fromsaid adapter during launch,

a percussion primer positioned in said central cavity of said base at aposition opposed to the juncture of said adapter and said base andpositioned to be detonated by a projectile fired through said barrel ofsaid pistol, whereupon detonation of said primer separates said basefrom said adapter,

a cylindrical case separably attached to said base,

said cylindrical case having a domed-shaped forward end,

a quantity of smoke-producing composition in said cylindrical case, and

fuze means for igniting said smoke composition upon detonation of saidpercussion printerby a projectile fired by said pistol whereby ignitionof said smoke composition causes said case to be separated from saidbase.

2. A smoke signal as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adapter has atleast one hole for venting gas generated by firing said pistol.

3. A smoke signal as set forth in claim 1 wherein said smoke-producingcomposition is comprised, by weight, of about 30.2 percent of red dye,about 22.6 percent of potassium chlorate, about 2 percent of potassiumbicarbonate, about 1 1 percent of sugar and about 34.2 percent ofbinder.

4. A smoke signal as set forth in claim 3 wherein said binder iscomprised, by weight, of about 8 percent of cellulose nitrate and about92 percent of acetone.

1. A smoke signal adaptable for being launched by a projectile firedfrom a pistol comprising: an adapter for receiving the barrel of apistol, a base separably attached to one end of said adapter and havinga central cavity therein, said base being adaptable to be separated fromsaid adapter during launch, a percussion primer positioned in saidcentral cavity of said base at a position opposed to the juncture ofsaid adapter and said base and positioned to be detonated by aprojectile fired through said barrel of said pistol, whereupondetonation of said primer separates said base from said adapter, acylindrical case separably attached to said base, said cylindrical casehaving a domed-shaped forward end, a quantity of smoke-producingcomposition in said cylindrical case, and fuze means for igniting saidsmoke composition upon detonation of said percussion primer by aprojectile fired by said pistol whereby ignition of said smokecomposition causes said case to be separated from said base.
 1. A smokesignal adaptable for being launched by a projectile fired from a pistolcomprising: an adapter for receiving the barrel of a pistol, a baseseparably attached to one end of said adapter and having a centralcavity therein, said base being adaptable to be separated from saidadapter during launch, a percussion primer positioned in said centralcavity of said base at a position opposed to the juncture of saidadapter and said base and positioned to be detonated by a projectilefired through said barrel of said pistol, whereupon detonation of saidprimer separates said base from said adapter, a cylindrical caseseparably attached to said base, said cylindrical case having adomed-shaped forward end, a quantity of smoke-producing composition insaid cylindrical case, and fuze means for igniting said smokecomposition upon detonation of said percussion primer by a projectilefired by said pistol whereby ignition of said smoke composition causessaid case to be separated from said base.
 2. A smoke signal as set forthin claim 1 wherein said adapter has at least one hole for venting gasgenerated by firing said pistol.
 3. A smoke signal as set forth in claim1 wherein said smoke-producing composition is comprised, by weight, ofabout 30.2 percent of red dye, about 22.6 percent of potassium chlorate,about 2 percent of potassium bicarbonate, about 11 percent of sugar andabout 34.2 percent of binder.